Jenkins, Lofton Appreciate New Defensive Scheme Under Spagnuolo

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; What are your early impressions of Coach Spagnuolo and the new defense?
“I think there’s a big difference. There’s a lot more zone. It’s a lot different than what we’re used to with Gregg Williams’ defense. I don’t think there ...

What are your early impressions of Coach Spagnuolo and the new defense?

“I think there’s a big difference. There’s a lot more zone. It’s a lot different than what we’re used to with Gregg Williams’ defense. I don’t think there are many defenses like his, but it definitely takes a lot of pressure off of our corners and a lot of stress off of our back end guys. There’s a lot on me and Roman to kind of have eyes on the quarterback and play left-right so we can both be in the box and in the backfield. I think it brings some challenging things to quarterbacks as far as figuring out who’s coming. The zone packages are pretty fun.”

What are some of the biggest adjustments going to be in this new defense?

“Last year we played a lot of man-to-man and a lot of matchup. This year we’ll still be playing some matchups, but there will be a lot of zone schemes with zone pressures and things like that. Being able to transition to those kinds of things and knowing where your teammates are going to be at (is new.) It’s going to be an adjustment. It seems to be going pretty well. I think guys really like the adjustment. Like I said, there’s a lot less stress on the back end and it allows us to keep our eyes on the quarterback. Hopefully, that will result on making some more plays on the ball.”

Coach Spagnuolo said he wants his safeties to be making tackles as close to the line as possible. Are we going to be seeing you play closer to the line than you did last year?

“Yes, I think so. In the last couple of years, we preached to have our safeties back deep. I think we started off at 20 yards just so we could play downhill. A lot of times, if the ball got to me it was a bad thing. This year, we’re playing a lot closer to the line of scrimmage. Like I said, Roman (Harper) and I are basically playing the same position. We could play left or right, so we could both be down within linebacker depth. If they continue to go left-right, you’ll continue to see me closer to the line of scrimmage. Even when I am deep, it’s not going to be the 20 yards that we’ve been playing. It will be closer to 15 or 12 yards from the ball.”

Do you think playing closer to the line will give you more opportunities to be a playmaker?

“Yes, definitely. I think instead of it being a clean-up role like it’s been in the last couple of years, I’ll be closer to the ball and that’ll give me some more opportunities to make some more plays. It’s a lot less stressful making a tackle at nine yards as opposed to 19.”

There’s a lot more zone. It’s a lot different than what we’re used to with Gregg Williams’ defense. I don’t think there are many defenses like his, but it definitely takes a lot of pressure off of our corners and a lot of stress off of our back end guys.

I hope Lofton steps in and takes over like Vilma did when he came here. More than that I hope that Vilma's suspension is reduced and we can see them on the field together.
Apparently the linebackers bear the brunt in this defense.